My family
by Coffeecup
Summary: Cassie writes about her new family.


My Family  
  
I live with my adopted family. I used to have a mom, dad and little brother in Toronto but then they got really sick. No one could find a cure for it and they died. Before they were sick, my mom looked after my brother and I. We went to school whilst my mom cooked and cleaned. She used to cook for the bakery so our whole house smelt of bread. I loved the smell of bread because it always reminded me of home but now it makes me feel sick. My dad was a carver – he was one of the best in our village. He made all of our furniture. My brother was only two when the sickness came. When my family died I felt alone, as though I'd never find anyone else in the world to look after me.  
  
Then I found my adopted family.  
  
My adopted mom is called Janet Fraiser. I live with Janet and my dog, Jack, in a big house. Janet is very small and wears heels to make herself taller. She told me it was because people find it more intimidating to hear her clicking from down the corridor. I wasn't sure what intimidating meant so I looked it up in a dictionary. I found out it meant, "to make timid, fill with fear." Janet's never tried to scare me but Uncle Jack tells me that she's very nasty at work.  
  
I didn't think that Doctors were allowed to be nasty. Janet's a doctor – she saves people's lives all the time. She's head doctor at her work so she has to deal with lots of people. I think that's why she needs to be intimidating, so that she has respect. I think she has more respect that she knows, even without shoes.  
  
Janet has brown hair that seems to change every few days. I think that's because she likes change. She is always changing something in our house – yesterday she changed round her bedroom because she was 'bored.' She always does something different each day, even if it's having a different cup of coffee. Sam told me once she thought Janet was mad. Sam hates change of any sort. She doesn't like it when Uncle Jack messes up her laboratory. She doesn't even like getting her hair cut.  
  
Janet's one of the nicest people I know – I didn't like living here when I first moved but Janet didn't mind. She let me stay up if I didn't want to sleep and gave me cookies. She listened to me and spoke to me like an adult. All of my adopted family do – they treat me as a real person. Although I haven't known Janet for very long, I feel like I have. Janet said she's told me things that she hasn't told anyone – not even her best friend, Sam. That makes me feel special.  
  
My favourite adopted Aunt is called Samantha Carter. Sam is very very intelligent – Uncle Jack calls her a rocket scientist. When he does Sam rolls her eyes and frowns but she blushes. I think she likes it when Uncle Jack teases her. I told Janet that once and she just laughed. Sam can be very sarcastic when she wants to be, but she never is around Uncle Jack. She doesn't call him 'Jack' either; she calls him 'sir.' But that is because they work for the military and the military doesn't like people to be friends. Janet said they were being formal but I don't think you need to call someone 'sir' to be formal. I didn't tell Sam that though.  
  
Sam is a very brave person – she lost her mom when she was my age so she knows how I feel. She still has a brother and a dad though, but she doesn't speak to them. I don't understand why anyone would not talk to their family – if I could still speak to my real family, I would everyday. Sam told me it was 'complicated' but I don't think she wanted to talk about it. I don't think she understands why her family doesn't talk either, but she's lived with that all her life, so Janet says. Sam is very brave. She's seen things in her work that no person should see, Janet says, but she survives. Sam is always very nice to me and never complained when I phoned her at odd hours to talk. Uncle Daniel told me that Sam is wrapped round my little finger. I wasn't sure what it meant at first and I asked Sam how anyone could be wrapped round my little finger. She laughed and explained what it meant. I think Uncle Daniel was right.  
  
I think Uncle Jack is wrapped round my little finger too.  
  
Uncle Jack is very tall. He swears he has brown hair, but it is grey round the sides. Sam and Janet once told me they thought it looked 'distinguished' and then they started giggling. I thought it made him look old. Uncle Jack used to have a son, but he died when he was very young. I don't know how he died, but it made Uncle Jack very sad. He says that he's happier now he has Sam, Uncle Daniel and Uncle Teal'c but when he doesn't think anyone's looking he looks very sad.  
  
Uncle Jack pretends to be a lot of things. He pretends to be stupid so that Sam will explain things to him. When he plays chess he calls the knights 'horses' and deliberately looses to Sam. I think it's because he enjoys making Sam laugh and she always does when they play chess. Uncle Jack looks happy when Sam is. I think they like each other but when I tried to talk to Janet about them, she changed the subject. Uncle Daniel always blushes when I try to talk to him about Sam and Uncle Jack.  
  
Uncle Daniel is a 'geek' according to Uncle Jack. Uncle Daniel is tall like Sam and Uncle Jack but he wears glasses because his eyes don't work very well. He has lots of allergies and sneezes a lot. Uncle Jack said that Uncle Daniel uses more tissues in one day that he does in a month. Uncle Daniel just rolled his eyes. Uncle Daniel is very patient – he doesn't snap at anyone even if they're very annoying (like Uncle Jack.) Uncle Daniel lost his wife in an accident – it upset him a lot. He tries to prevent more accidents from happening now, but they still do. I think every time an accident happens Uncle Daniel gets a little bit sadder. Uncle Teal'c doesn't usually talk much but he once told me that he would help Uncle Daniel prevent the accidents from ever happening again and hoped one day to help his own family.  
  
Uncle Teal'c is sort of adopted as well. He had to move because he did something bad and my family adopted him too. Uncle Teal'c is very tall and strong. I was scared of him at first because he looked so big, but he's a lovely person. He's very strong – he can pick me up easily. He picks up Sam sometimes as well. Uncle Teal'c is very careful; despite his size he's very gentle and wouldn't hurt us. He'd hurt anyone who tried to hurt us though. I think Uncle Teal'c has hurt people before. I don't know why he had to leave his old home but Uncle Jack said it was because he helped them. I didn't know helping people was illegal in other countries, but my Geography teacher told us that different countries have strange rules.  
  
My adopted Family stops there. But there are more people that I know, like George Hammond. He's an old friend of Uncle Jack and Sam's dad. He's old and wise and from Texas. He doesn't have any hair. It's funny because when he stands under a light his head shines. George has two granddaughters who I've met a few times before. They're really nice.  
  
I love my adopted family. Although I don't get to see my adopted Aunt and Uncles very often because they're away they always make the times when I do see them really fun. Janet works a lot too, so sometimes I stay over my friends because Janet can't get back in time. But she makes it up to me so I don't mind. I know Janet is working to save someone's life and that makes me feel really proud. I'm proud of my whole adopted family. I know that I can never have my real family back and my new family can't take their place either, but I'm happy with them. I might not have a usual family, but they're mine all the same, and I wouldn't change them for the world.  
  
By Cassandra Fraiser. Age 12. 


End file.
